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Poland in April - stopover in Warsaw or Krakow?

I

iona

idle and disorderly
I'm off to Poland in mid-April, staying somewhere between Warsaw and Krakow but basically in the middle of nowhere for a week. Won't have much time to hang around before or after that but I'm looking at doing at least one leg of the journey without flying, which will mean an overnight stay somewhere with a bit of time to kill in the evening and morning. Warsaw and Krakow seem like the most obvious options as they both have direct trains back to Berlin but I'm open to staying somewhere else if I can make transport work and anyone wants to try and convince me.

Don't really want to "Do" a long list of touristy stuff, I'm happy just having a wander round unless I end up staying slightly longer somewhere (which might happen as one ferry won't quite get me to London in time for the train I'd ideally get, and the previous ferry is 48 hours earlier). I don't like cities but can enjoy them in small doses. I do like parks and gardens and other naturey stuff. Don't drink alcohol so not really interested in bars etc.

TLDR Krakow vs Warsaw: is one much better / shitter / differenter than the other?
 
Silas Loom said:
There’s a lot to like about Krakow. Not sure if Auschwitz really counts as “touristy stuff”; it’s somewhere that should be visited by anyone who has the opportunity though.
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I don't think I'll have time for that and a quick visit for the sake of ticking it off a list would feel wrong. From the quick bit of googling I started last night I think both cities have a fair bit of stuff related to both the Holocaust/WW2 and Jewish history more generally, though.
 
iona said:
I don't think I'll have time for that and a quick visit for the sake of ticking it off a list would feel wrong. From the quick bit of googling I started last night I think both cities have a fair bit of stuff related to both the Holocaust/WW2 and Jewish history more generally, though.
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If that’s an interest, the Krakow Jewish quarter is worth visiting, but some aspects are grotesque. Trinket shops abound with fridge magnets and tea towels depicting hook-nosed Jews holding bags of money. There are “Jewish” restaurants with menus in cod-Hebraic script offering “Aunty Sara’s pork and cheese Friday night dinner” and suchlike, with ludicrously Aryan musicians having a stab at klezmer in the background. I’d suggest a guided walking tour then a very sharp exit.
 
I went to both a long time ago and loved them, but Krakow felt a bit more special somehow and as kk says, laid back. That's a bit subjective and not very helpful, but I don't think you can go too far wrong with either. Lucky you!
 
Silas Loom said:
If that’s an interest, the Krakow Jewish quarter is worth visiting, but some aspects are grotesque. Trinket shops abound with fridge magnets and tea towels depicting hook-nosed Jews holding bags of money. There are “Jewish” restaurants with menus in cod-Hebraic script offering “Aunty Sara’s pork and cheese Friday night dinner” and suchlike, with ludicrously Aryan musicians having a stab at klezmer in the background. I’d suggest a guided walking tour then a very sharp exit.
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I mean it's not An Interest, as such, but it's a major event in relatively recent history and not even acknowledging it or writing it off as boring/depressing feels just as disrespectful as rushing round somewhere just to tick it off a list. And I could definitely stand to learn more about the subject - I was obviously aware of Auschwitz but didn't actually know it was near Krakow. I'll try and fit in a bit of a museum, or a smaller local museum or something, if it's convenient but won't go traipsing across the city just for that. Otherwise it'll hopefully prompt me to do some reading or something.

Cheers for the warning about the grim tourist tat though.
 
polly said:
I went to both a long time ago and loved them, but Krakow felt a bit more special somehow and as kk says, laid back. That's a bit subjective and not very helpful, but I don't think you can go too far wrong with either. Lucky you!
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Nah laid back is good, especially if more than one person thinks so!

As for lucky - I'm spending a week in a Japanese style house at a martial arts training centre, with a massive dojo and a sauna and a lake and gravel garden and morning yoga classes and mushroom picking walks in the surrounding forest. Krakow or wherever is going to seem shit in comparison :D
 
The ethnographic museum in Krakow is also really worth a visit. No one ever really talks about it, but it's one of my favourites.

It's split into 3 floors, the first floor has a reconstruction houses and mills of how people used to live 100 years go, you can walk around in. Quite impressive.

2nd floor has folk costumes, and tools, musical instruments, and all the stuff they did in day to day life.

3rd floor is full of folk art.

It's great because it really gets to the heart of polish culture.


Also, last year Krakow was crowned the gastronomic capital of Europe, and if you like to eat there's a fuckton of wonderful restaurants at very reasonable prices.
 
FabricLiveBaby! said:
The ethnographic museum in Krakow is also really worth a visit. No one ever really talks about it, but it's one of my favourites.

It's split into 3 floors, the first floor has a reconstruction houses and mills of how people used to live 100 years go, you can walk around in. Quite impressive.

2nd floor has folk costumes, and tools, musical instruments, and all the stuff they did in day to day life.

3rd floor is full of folk art.

It's great because it really gets to the heart of polish culture.


Also, last year Krakow was crowned the gastronomic capital of Europe, and if you like to eat there's a fuckton of wonderful restaurants at very reasonable prices.
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Really like the sound of this, thanks!

I do love food but probably going to be looking for something fairly simple and casual, rather than an amazing meal at a proper nice restaurant, if you have any recommendations...
 
iona said:
Really like the sound of this, thanks!

I do love food but probably going to be looking for something fairly simple and casual, rather than an amazing meal at a proper nice restaurant, if you have any recommendations...
Click to expand...

Depends on what you like.

Wrenga in Kazimierz has hands down the best pork schnitzel and chips in Krakow. But they do all sorts of polish stuff (pierogi, potato pancakes etc).

If you fancy queuing for ramen Akita is the best I've eaten anywhere in the world (bold claim!).

Warsztat is nice too, very chill, inexpensive Polish style pasta and pizza.

Nolio is a great little Italian does excellent Neapolitan stylenpizza

House of beer has fantastic bar food.

Or you might want to try a burger from M22 or Moa.

There are loads of Georgian and Ukrainian restaurants too.

And loads of amazing food trucks too.

Honestly it really depends on what you like to eat. We have everything here.
 
FabricLiveBaby! said:
Depends on what you like.

Wrenga in Kazimierz has hands down the best pork schnitzel and chips in Krakow. But they do all sorts of polish stuff (pierogi, potato pancakes etc).

If you fancy queuing for ramen Akita is the best I've eaten anywhere in the world (bold claim!).

Warsztat is nice too, very chill, inexpensive Polish style pasta and pizza.

Nolio is a great little Italian does excellent Neapolitan stylenpizza

House of beer has fantastic bar food.

Or you might want to try a burger from M22 or Moa.

There are loads of Georgian and Ukrainian restaurants too.

And loads of amazing food trucks too.

Honestly it really depends on what you like to eat. We have everything here.
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I like to eat pretty much everything!

That all sounds great, thanks. After a week of jiu jitsu training all day long I might just wander round seeing how many meals I can manage to eat :oops::D
 
Krakow has a fancy old clock tower. Schindler's factory is worth a look as is the museum of Polish resistance if you end up in Warsaw.
 
Last edited:
...and Warsaw? I am going to be finding myself in Warsaw in the very near future.

I could use some recommendations on bars. Daytimes are sorted but it would be helpful to get recommendations on things to do at night. Interesting, quirky bars. Maybe some live music but for older folk like me....definitely not a club!

Just a steer on where to find some nice pubs/bars would be enough.
 
Honestly, If I were you I'd wander around the Śródmieście area if you're looking to find some nice bars in the evening,. - especially around the areas of Wilcza and Hoza streets. If you can get an apartment around there, even better.
 
Mrs Miggins said:
...and Warsaw? I am going to be finding myself in Warsaw in the very near future.

I could use some recommendations on bars. Daytimes are sorted but it would be helpful to get recommendations on things to do at night. Interesting, quirky bars. Maybe some live music but for older folk like me....definitely not a club!

Just a steer on where to find some nice pubs/bars would be enough.
Click to expand...
 
Kraków's Kazimierz area is a great place to bar hop, when I was there I don't think I went in a dud spot, and I went in a lot! One that stood out was Alchemia (sp?), the only place I've ever seen 68pc absynth shots... I thought it was banned? They really do the job :)

(ETA: "Absinth is banned in Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, the U.S. and France. " - still never seen it on a drinks list before in the UK even though its legal here supposedly. Would probalby cost £10 a shot if it was on sale here. )
Live music downstairs too
en.alchemia.com.pl

Alchemia

Alchemia Club, since 1999 on Kazimierz, Old Jewish district of Krakow - concerts, events, meetings - great people, music & more
en.alchemia.com.pl en.alchemia.com.pl
 
Last edited:
Silly question I think but what will your ...main starting point for the journey be? Northest Northland or via London? Just thinking Eurostar then onwards.

Seat61.com is a really good website for travel info when not flying.
 
Callie said:
Silly question I think but what will your ...main starting point for the journey be? Northest Northland or via London? Just thinking Eurostar then onwards.

Seat61.com is a really good website for travel info when not flying.
Click to expand...
Is that @ me? Looking at seat61 was the first thing I did :)

Everything's a bit vague as I'm not sure if I'll need to limit how long I'm away due to work / housing stuff / whatever, so I've planned routes both ways but may end up flying in one direction (getting the ferry to Aberdeen and then flying from there to Krakow, or the same in reverse, will probably work out much cheaper than flying direct from Orkney).

Atm the provisional plan is looking something like:
Overnight boat to Aberdeen
Train to London, see some people and do some stuff in Sussex
Train back to London the following day then Eurostar to Brussels/Rotterdam/Amsterdam, potter there for a few hours then sleeper train to Berlin
Either get the daytime train from Berlin direct to Krakow and then get a hotel, or spend a few more hours in Berlin (maybe drop in to a jiu jitsu class) and then get an afternoon train to either Poznan or Szczecin and then a sleeper to Krakow from there
Then I'll have a day in Krakow before getting another train to Piotrkow, cheap hotel there so I can catch an early bus to Przedborz and then walk the last 8 miles when I run out of public transport routes :D

Journey back would be more or less the same in reverse, possibly with a few days' stop in Berlin/Hamburg/Paris/? for some tattoo work. I might be able to get a lift some of the way with people who are driving back home from the Poland camp though.
 
Warsaw was flattened in the war, with many of the old looking bits rebuilt after the war. anyone know how Krakow fared? It looks incredibly complete
 
FabricLiveBaby! said:
I don't know much about Warsaw BUT I did go to visit and would recommend these places off the top of my head (made that good an impression):

Kraken Rum Bar: Kraken Rum Bar · PoznaÅska 12, 00-454 Warszawa, Poland - really nice bar. good food too.

Sol y Sombra Tapas Bar: Sol y Sombra Tapas Bar · Grzybowska 2/16, 00-131 Warszawa, Poland - remember having a really nice meal here

I'll ask my colleague if he can recommend anywhere. He's from Warsaw.
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Thank you 😊
 
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